Miami-Dade accuses security company of overbilling

In August 2006, Miami-Dade County's top auditor found evidence that the Wackenhut Corp. had billed the county nearly $1.6-million over a three-year period for 69,000 hours worth of work that its employees — private security guards who patrol Metrorail platforms and trains — were never paid for.

Auditor Cathy Jackson sent those findings, which suggest that the private security firm may have overbilled the county, to Wackenhut that month. They were never publicly released. Nineteen months later, the audit still hasn't come out. Jackson's report is at the center of an unusual lawsuit that accuses Wackenhut of widespread fraud for allegedly overbilling Miami-Dade millions of dollars for unguarded "ghost posts" on the transit system and at the Juvenile Assessment Center.

Wackenhut, which has controlled the Metrorail security contract for nearly 20 years, denies the charges — many of them based on sworn statements from dozens of former guards and managers.